More on The Walking Dead

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from The Walking Dead season seven finale.

The Walking Dead season seven has come to a close after an explosive finale last night (Monday), but series showrunner Scott Gimple is already promising big things from the next season.

Last night’s finale saw Rick finally launch the attack on Negan that we have all been waiting for and, boy, was it intense. There was a surprise betrayal from the junkyard community, the zombie-fication of Sasha and even a tiger attack that arrived just in time to save Carl from the swinging Lucille.

Although we’re still catching our breath after last night’s dramatic events, showrunner Scott Gimple is already preparing fans for more excitement in season eight, which will arrive sometime during October.

Now that Alexandria have secured their first victory against the Saviors, Gimple says that events in the upcoming season will get “intense and emotional” in a “different way”.

“I’d say Rick and the group are coming off a win and even with the loss of Sasha, she was such a huge part of that win,” he told the Hollywood Reporter.

“She wasn’t a victim, she was a team captain in some ways – and that’s a good way for them to start the season and a good place for them to be.”

He added: “This isn’t a time of them wringing their hands; it’s a time to descend into righteous battle, which is a serious thing.

“They’re not glib about it but there is something extremely freeing to these people to be involved in such a noble cause.”

The showrunner continued to describe how the finale’s outcome has set season eight up for a much faster pace.

He said: “The things that they are getting into demand a more kinetic narrative. The pace is accelerated by virtue of the things that they’re up to.

“Though I don’t want to say exactly, anybody who watches the show can extrapolate that they’re now into public conflict with the Saviors.

“The battle lines are drawn. There isn’t quite as much time to dig into anything but prosecuting the war.”

Gimple previously teased the new season would “melt people’s minds and break their televisions.

“I say, ‘It’s gonna be bigger, it’s gonna be more intense.’ I always mean that, but this year it’s the same thing. More intense.”